Winning the prize wasn't half as exciting as doing the work itself.
Maria Goeppert-MayerRead
Mathematics began to seem too much like puzzle solving. Physics is puzzle solving, too, but of puzzles created by nature, not by the mind of man.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Mathematics is seen as an artificial puzzle, while physics deals with natural puzzles.
Maria Goeppert-Mayer distinguishes between the fields of mathematics and physics by emphasizing that mathematics is often perceived as the solving of abstract puzzles created by human intellect, while physics involves solving puzzles devised by the natural world. This highlights the inherent difference in the nature of problems each discipline addresses, illustrating that while both require analytical thinking, the source of the puzzles differs significantly.
Themes
MathematicsPhysicsPuzzle SolvingNatureScience
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the differences between theoretical and applied sciences.
More from Maria Goeppert-Mayer
All quotes βSimilar quotes
The future depicted in a good SF story ought to be in fact possible, or at least plausible. That means that the writer should be able to convince the reader (and himself) that the wonders he is describing really can come true... and that gets tricky when you take a good, hard look at the world around you.
Frederik PohlRead
I have oft-times been besought, by divers gentlemen, to set down on paper what I have beheld through my newly invented microscopia, but I have generally declined.
Antonie Van LeeuwenhoekRead
Whether you can go back in time is held in the grip of the law of quantum gravity.
Kip ThorneRead
Everyone in the astronaut program has a degree in a science field. The crew are the ones who do the experiments, help to design some of the experiments that come from other primary researchers. So it becomes very important that you have a science background.
Mae JemisonRead
Science is but an image of the truth.
Francis BaconRead
I hate crowds and making speeches. I hate facing cameras and having to answer to a crossfire of questions. Why popular fancy should seize upon me, a scientist, dealing in abstract things and happy if left alone, is a manifestation of mass psychology that is beyond me.
Albert EinsteinRead